Thermionic relay



Dec. 17, 1940. v. E. CARBONARA THERMIONIC RELAY 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledOct. 15, 1938 INVENTOR VICTOR E. CARBON/WA Jul. ATTORNEY Dec. 17, 1940.v. E. CARBONARA 2,225,032

THERMIONIC RELAY Filed Oct. 13, 193B 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORMFQ?ICAR&WWMM

BY W

M ATTORNEY Dec. 17, 1940. v. E. CARBONARA THERMIONIC RELAY Filed Oct.15, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 AM ATTORNEY Dec. 17, 1 40. v. E. CARBONARATHERMIONIG RELAY Filed Oct. 13, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR V/CTOI?E. CARBON/MA BY M ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 17, 1940 UNITED STATES'rnsnmoruc namv Victor E. Carbonara, Rockvllle Centre, N. I, as-

signor to Paul Kollsman, Elmlmrst, N. Y.

Application October 13, 1938, Serial No. 234,801 '5 Claims. 01. 250-215)This invention relates to thermionic relays, more particularly to arelay for the remote transmission of movements or positionalindications. As used in the description, the term thermionic 5 relay isunderstood as including relays oi the high vacuum tube type as well asrelays of the gas tube type. As is well known in the art, the flow ofemission from the cathode of a relay of the high vacuum type consistsprimarily of elec- 1 trons while the emission from the cathode of arelay of the gas tube type consists primarily of ions.

It isan object of this invention to provide a transmitting relay capableof producing electrical impulses in response to a positional or rotaryimpulse without exerting a reaction on a source of movement connected tothe relay, such as a measuring instrument operating the relay.

It is thus an object of this invention to provide a transmitter for usein connection with instruments capable of producing only an extremelyweak torque such as electrical measuring instruments, compasses,gyroscopes or other p0- sitional instruments the proper operation ofwhich would be impaired if an appreciable load were put on the same.

According to the invention a thermionic relay is provided having acathode, a plurality of anodes positioned to receive a flow of emissioned for rotation relatively to the cathode and arranged to control theflow of emission between cathode and the respective anodes.

Thus electrical impulses are created capable of operating at a distancea repeater instrument of any suitable type, for example, of the formshown and described in the co-pending application of Paul Kollsman,Serial No. 189,816, filed February 10, 1938.

It is a further object of the invention to provide in a thermionic relaya control electrode mounted for complete rotations relatively to acathode and arranged to control an emission from the cathode to aplurality of anodes.

Further aims, objects and advantages of this invention will appear froma consideration of the following description and the accompanyingdrawings showing for purely illustrative purposes embodiments of thisinvention. It is to be understood, however, that the description is notto be taken in a limiting sense, the scope of the invention beingdefined in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings:

55 Figure 1 shows a transmitting relay 0! the Gil from said cathode anda control -electrodemounthigh vacuum type connected to two repeaters,the relay being shown in sectional elevation. In this section therepeaters and connections are shown in form. 5

Figure2isaplanvlewortherelayshownin Figure 1, asection belngtaken online2-2.

Figure3isaplanvlewoftherelayshownin Figure 1, a. sectinnbeingialrenonline 3-4.

Figure 4 shows in sectional elevation a relay in of the gas tube type.

Figure 5 is a wiring diagram illustrating a mannerofarelayofthetypeshownin Figure 1 with a repeater instrument.

Figurefiisawiringilimtratinga manner of connecting a. relay of the typeshown in Figure 4 with a repeater instrument.

Inl 'lgureladevieeforactimtingatransmitter according to this inventionis shown as being a permanent magnet ll secured to a shaft llwhichmaybeconnectedto asource ofmovement such as a instrument, a compassor the like, the source of movement being not illustrated.

The thermionic relay is illustrated as having an evacuated envelope orgins bulb l2 moimted on abase i3 andhavingastem ll terminating in apress orseal l5. Upon the seal ii there ismounted a cathode shown in theillustrated form as including an electrical heating element I6surrounded by an insulating core i! preferably of ceramic 'materialandcarrying an emitting cathode sleeve ll to which a lead I! is connected.

Radially and preferably symmetrically spaced around the cathode are aplurality of anodes, in theillustrated embodiment, tour in number andshown at 2|, 2|, 22 and 23, anode 2! being not visible in the sectionalillustration of Figure l. Leads 24, 25, 2 and 21 are connected to there- 0 spective anodes. All of the leads passing through the seal of thestem are tightly secured therein, as is well known in the art.

A control electrode in the illustrated embodiment, shown as positionedwithin the envelope and mounted on a shaft 23 carried in bearings 30 and3|. Means are provided for rotating the control electrode relatively tothe cathode or anodes. In the illustrated embodiment the means consistof an armature 32 of magnetic material. The armature may consist of apermanent magnet assuming a definite positional relation with respect tothe controlling magnet H! or other rotatable magnetic field provided foracting on the armature.

The bearings 30 and 3| are mounted on a metallic frame consisting ofmembers 33 and 34, the member 34 being supported by the seal E5 or thestem and connected to an outgoing lead 35. To insure an intimate contactbetween the rotatable control electrode and the supporting frame 33 and34, a contact spring 35 may be provided connected to a lug 31 of theframe and bearing on the shaft .29 of the electrode.

It is preferable that the armature 32 be so positioned relatively to thecontrolling magnetic field that in addition to the positional actuationof the armature a slight force is exerted on the armature in an axialdirection relieving the thrust on the bearings and reducing the frictionthereof.

The control electrode may be connected in a circuit to act as ashielding electrode or as a grid depending upon the potential biasapplied to the same.

In the illustrated embodiment the control electrode is of cylindricalform movable in a path between the cathode and the anodes. A portion ofthe cylindrical electrode is shown as being cut away in a plane inclinedto the axis of rotation.

Accordingly, in the position shown in Figure 1, the control electrodewill block substantially all of the path between the cathode and theanode 20. A maximum flow will pass from the cathode to the oppositeelectrode 22 while electrodes 2! and 23 may be assumed as receivingsubstantially one half of the maximum flow.

There are accordingly four positions between the control electrode andthe anodes in which one anode receives a maximum flow of emission, theopposite anode receives a minimum flow, while the remaining anodesreceive a flow having a value between the maximum and the minimum.

There are also four positions each diifering by 45 from the previouslydescribed positions in which two adjacent electrodes receive anapproximately equal flow constituting the major part of the total flowwhile the remaining two electrodes receive equal amounts of the minorportion of the total flow.

In positions other than those above described the magnitude of the flowsbetween the cathode and the individual anodes varies between a maximumand a minimum depending on the relative position of the controlelectrode and the anodes.

A plurality of repeaters may be connected to the relay. In Figure 1 tworepeaters of a form disclosed in the co-pending application, Serial No.189,816 are shown, each repeater having field coils, the magnetic axesof which are disposed at an angle relatively to each other. If it isdesired equiangularly to repeat the positional or rotary impulsesintroduced at the relay, the field coils may be arranged in a positionalarrangement corresponding to that of the anodes.

In the illustrated embodiment each repeater is provided with four fieldcoils 36, 31, 38 and 39, two of which are combined to form pairs. Thismay be conveniently accomplished by winding the coils in a bifilarmanner to insure that both coils have identical electrical and magneticproperties. Coils 36 and 31 are thus combined to form one pair whilecoils 38 and 39 are combined to form a second pair. Only for purpose ofillustration the coils are shown as being wound one on top of the otherin Figure 1.

A rotatable armature preferably of magnetic type is mounted for rotationin response to the direction of the magnetic field set up by the fieldcoils. In the illustrated form the armature is of electro-magnetic typecomprising a rotatable shaft 40 carrying pole pieces 4| and 42 atopposite ends thus forming a Z-shaped structure. An instrument to beactuated in response to the rotations of the shaft may be connected tothe shaft in any suitable manner. In the illustrated form a pointer 43is shown which may be readable relatively to a graduated scale (notillustrated). An exciting coil 44 is provided to excite or energize thearmature, the exciting coil being connected to a source of electricalenergy 45 through leads 46 and 41.

The source of electrical energy may be a source of direct as well asalternating current. If direct current is used the polarity of thesource should preferably be as indicated in the drawings. The device,however, operates equally well on alternating current because of therectifying properties of the relay which thus result in a suppression ofa half cycle of the alternating current.

One end of the field coils is connected to one terminal of the source ofelectrical energy preferably the positive terminal, the other end of thecoils being connected to the respective anodes. In the illustratedexample a lead 48 connects field coil 36 with anode 23. coil 31 to theanode 2! while further leads 5B and 5i are provided to connect fieldcoils 38 and 39 with anodes 22 and 20 respectively.

A resistance 52 may be provided for reducing the voltage of the sourceof electrical energy 45 for the heating element [6.

A separate source of potential 53 in series with a further resistance 54is shown to apply a bias to the control element 28. If a positive biasis applied to the control electrode the electrode will act as a gridaugmenting the flow of electrons from the cathode. If a negative bias isgiven to the control electrode the electrode will act as a shieldsuppressing a portion of the flow emitted from the cathode.

The operation of the device is as follows:

In the illustrated position the anodes 2i and 23 receive practicallyequal portions of the flow of emission setting up currents of equalmagnitude in coils 38 and 37. The coils are connected in such a mannerthat the current flows through the coils in opposite direction. Themagnetic fields of coils 36 and 31 accordingly oppose and neutralizeeach other. A maximum flow of emission is received by anode 22 causingfield coil 38 to set up a magnetic field of maximum strength. This fieldis opposed by a very weak field, if any, set up by the coil 39 energizedfrom the shielded anode 20. The predominating magnetic field set up bycoil 38 has a substantially horizontal direction in the illustratedembodiment causing the armature 4| to assume the position shown in thedrawings.

If the control electrode is rotated relatively to the anodes it becomeseasily apparent that the residual magnetic field acting on the armatureof the repeater will equally change its direction causing the armatureprecisely to repeat the movement introduced at the transmitting,- relay.Assuming, for example, that the control electrode A lead 49 connectsfield be rotated in a direction gradually to cover anode 2| and touncover anode 23, it appears that the field set up by coil 31 will bestrengthened while the field set up by coil 36 will be weakened wherebythe armature is caused to rotate a corresponding amount into alignmentwith the new direction of the magnetic field.

A modified form of the invention applied to a relay of the gas tube typeis illustrated in Figures 4 and 6. The structure of the relaycorresponds to that of the relay shown in Figure 1 with the exception ofan additional electgode generally called cathanode provided within thegas filled envelope II. The cathanode is shown at 55 having a lead 56passing through the seal l5. While normally in a gas filled tube theanode current cannot be completely controlled by the grid which becomesemersed in a highly ionized space, where the electron space charge isessentially neutralized by the positive ions, a control of the flow ofemission is well possible in a tube of the form shown in Figure 4, wherethe "cathanode acts as an anode for the discharge from the cathode I8,but as cathode for the amplifying section of the tube including theelectrodes 55 and 28 and anodes 2|, 2|, 22 and 23. As shown in Figures 6a positive bias is applied to the cathanode 55 with respect to thecathode l8, a battery 51 being shown for this purpose. The controlelectrode 28 is maintained more negative than the cathanode by virtuewfbeing connected to the cathode.

The advantages of a relay of the gas tube type over a relay of the highvacuum type is the greater power obtainable from a gas tube as comparedto the power obtainable from a high vacuum tube of approximately equalsize. Aside from the structural diflerences of the relay shown in Figure6, the operation of the transmission system illustrated in Figure 6corresponds with all other respects to the form of the invention shownin Figure 5. Obviously the present invention is not restricted to theparticular embodiments herein shown and described. Other forms ofrepeaters may be used, for example, or other means for rotatin thecontrol electrode with respect to the anodes be employed than the meansillustrated.

What is claimed is:

1. A relay comprising a central cylindrical cathode; a plurality ofanodes radially spaced from said cathode: a cylindrical controlelectrode having a portion cut away at an angle to the axis of rotationand mounted for full rotation between said cathode and said anodes;means for rotating said control electrode relatively to said anodes; anda sealed evacuated envelope enclosing said cathode, anodes, and controlelectrode.

2. A relay comprising a sealed evacuated envelope enclosing a centralcathode; a plurality of anodes radially spaced from said cathode; acylindrical control electrode mounted for full rotation between saidcathode and said anodes and having a portion cut away at an angle to theaxis of rotation; and an armature of magnetic material connected to saidelectrode for causing said electrode to follow a rotating magnetic fieldexternal to said envelope.

3. A relay comprising a cathode; a plurality of anodes; a cathanodepositioned between said cathode and said anodes; a control electrodemounted for full rotation in a path between said cathanode and saidanodes; means for rotatin said control electrode relatively to saidanodes; and a sealed envelope containing a charge of gas and enclosingsaid cathode, anodes, cathanode, and control electrode.

4. A relay comprising a central cylindrical cathode; a plurality ofanodes radially spaced from said cathode; a cylindrical cathanodebetween said cathode and said anodes; a control electrode mounted forfull rotation in a path between said cathanode and said anodes; meansfor rotating said control electrode relatively to said anodes; and asealed envelope containing a charge of gas and enclosing said cathode,anodes, cathanode, and control electrode.

5. A relay comprising a cathode; a plurality of anodes surrounding saidcathode; a semicylindrical control electrode mounted for full rotationin a path between said cathode and said anodes; said control electrodehaving a portion non-pervious to electrons and an open portion, thenonpervious portion forming a continuous, uninterrupted part of itscircumference, the open portion constituting the continuous remainder ofits circumference; a sealed evacuated envelope enclosing said cathode,anodes, and control electrode; and means for rotating said controlelectrode relatively to said anodes.

VICTOR E. CARBONARA.

